Gu Mu was born in September 1914 in a village in Rongcheng, Shandong. His birth name was Liu Jiayu. Although his parents were poor peasants, he received a good education at the insistence of his grandfather. He joined the Communist Party in July 1932 and became involved in revolutionary activities in Wendeng County, where he was attending school. He changed his name to "Gu Mu" to avoid implicating his family. In 1934, Gu went to Beijing and became a leader of the Beiping branch of the League of Left-Wing Writers. In 1936, Gu Mu worked in military logistics under the warlord Zhang Xueliang, and participated in the Xi'an Incident. In September 1940, Gu went back to Shandong to take on a series of progressively senior leadership positions, including Deputy Political Commissar of the First Military Region.
After the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, Gu became the Party Secretary and Mayor of Jinan, the capital of Shandong, as well as Political Commissar of the Jinan Military Region. In February 1952 he was named Deputy Party Secretary and propaganda chief of Shanghai. He was then transferred to work in Beijing, leading a number of commissions on economic development. In 1965 he became Director of the State Construction Commission. After the Cultural Revolution erupted in 1966, Gu was removed from his positions and suffered political persecution like many other leaders. He returned to work in 1973 as head of the State Development and Planning Commission. In 1975, he was appointed a Vice-Premier under Zhou Enlai, and led the State Construction Commission and the Import and Export Commission of the State Council. Between 1978 and 1988 Gu was a major part of the new reformist government under Deng Xiaoping, specializing in external relations and economic development. Gu, as Vice-Premier, led the PRC's first formal delegation to Western Europe following the Cultural Revolution. On the trip Gu visited France, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, and West Germany. He became a member of the Central Secretariat in 1980, and State Councilor in May 1982. As one of Deng Xiaoping's chief aides in charge of economic management, he played a major role in implementing Deng's economic reform policies and China's opening to the world. He was a key figure in the creation of Shenzhen, China's first Special Economic Zone. In 1988, Gu became a Vice-Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a mostly ceremonial post. He retired in 1993, and left public life. Gu Mu died on November 6, 2009, at the age of 95. He was officially eulogized as a "long-tested and loyal warrior of the Communist cause, a proletariat revolutionary, an outstanding leader in the field of economic development". Top Chinese leaders, including Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin attended his funeral.
Family
Gu Mu had four sons: Liu Nianyuan, Liu Huiyuan, Liu Liyuan, Liu Xianyuan, and a daughter, Liu Yanyuan. They are all surnamed "Liu" in accordance with Gu's real surname. Liu Nianyuan has retired as a major general of the People's Liberation Army. Liu Liyuan was imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution for two years, together with Ye Jianying's son Ye Xuanping and son-in-law Zou Jiahua, Bo Yibo's three sons including Bo Xilai, and the sons of He Long.
